'We're a ways off': Manuel laments roster as trade deadline nears

By Kevin CooneyStaff writer

Wednesday

Jul 31, 2013 at 12:01 AM

PHILADELPHIA — There are times over the past few years when there were subtle messages being sent from the dugout to the general manager’s suite about the state of the Phillies as the July 31 trade deadline neared.

Charlie Manuel would let it be known that his club needed a pitcher — and Ruben Amaro Jr. would often oblige. In 2011, the hinted at wish was for a big stick in the middle of a punchless lineup and Hunter Pence was delivered to the door.

Tuesday — 24 hours before this trade deadline— there was no subtleness to the message that Manuel was trying to send to Amaro. It was a resounding kick to the groin. This 2013 team needs to be changed and the dreams of this team contending quickly are not realistic.

“We’re a ways off,” Manuel said, when asked how far the Phils were away from contention before Tuesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. “I know what we’ve had for the last two years.”

However, it remains a very realistic possibility that the team that Manuel dragged home with an eight-game losing streak will be the one that takes the field at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday for the second game of the series.

Amaro was not available to the beat writers Tuesday night, but did give an interview to MLB Network in the middle of the afternoon. In the interview, Amaro said that he felt it was unlikely that any trades involving Michael Young, Cliff Lee or Chase Utley would be completed before the 4 p.m. deadline rolled by Wednesday.

A source Tuesday evening said that the club was busy, but nothing was close to being finished.

The Young situation took a bizarre turn when the Phillies called up Triple A third baseman and top prospect Cody Asche — a sign that many took that a trade featuring Young was imminent.

However, a Fox Sports report later said that Young — who was given a no trade clause in his contract when he accepted a trade from the Rangers on Dec. 8 to replace the 10-5 player option rights that he had with Texas — would only accept a deal back to the Rangers. The Red Sox and Yankees were also potential landing spots.

“I’m not going to handle that,” Young said when asked about that report right after batting practice. “Those things deserve to stay between me and the Phillies. The last thing I want to do is make this thing bigger than it needs to be. The Phillies have been very straightforward with me since Day 1 and I want to do the same thing with them. It’s been a great working relationship and I want to make sure our talks stay between us.”

Young’s infant son experienced some serious physical problems late in May, forcing him to go on the bereavement list. The family still lives in Dallas. When asked about how big a consideration that would be, Young was honest.

“My family has (to be) massive consideration in the decision-making process here,” Young said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

Lee’s situation didn’t change much from the start of Tuesday. The Phillies have insisted that they would have to be knocked over with a deal. The Red Sox are the one team with the prospects and financial resources that could do that. However, Boston has let it be known that shortstop Xander Bogaerts is off the table. Bogaerts — considered one of baseball’s top prospects — would almost have to be included for the Phils to make the deal.

Still, it is clear that the club wants to make some deal because it knows the current model is broken. Manuel said as much Tuesday in an animated statement.

“What do I think when I watch our games?” he said. “What do you see? You tell me what you see every day, day in and day out. I see that we have to get better. We need to get better at positions.

“There’s a lot of ifs in there, too. We’ve got Domonic Brown coming (back), we’ve got (Ryan) Howard, if we can get him well. He’s gotta get well. He’s gotta get healthy and then he’s got to get into top-notch shape. We’ve got (Roy) Halladay . . . if we had Halladay . . . then yeah, we’d get better. But there’s a lot of ifs there.

“Now I have to (ask), ‘Can we count on people?’ Count on the issues that we had getting better, and also performing at their peak. When the year starts, I like every one of our players. I’ve always said that and I still like our players. But I also see how we play. Let’s don’t fool ourselves. How we play is how we play.”

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